The present disclosure relates generally to ports and port adapters and the methods of their operation, and more particularly relates to a memory card-compatible receptacle engageable with a port expansion device for providing extensible connectivity for a processor-based system.
Many processor-based systems, such as mobile phones, cameras, desktops, laptops, digital music players, and the like, have multiple input/output ports for interfacing various devices with the processing system. Input/output ports, which are commonly found, include one or more of Universal Serial Bus (USB), Firewire400 & 800, Ethernet (e.g., RJ-45), Serial ports, Parallel ports, Personal System/2 (PS/2), Video Graphics Array (VGA), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), DisplayPort and Mini-Display Port, as well as others. One class of “memory card reader” ports is used to read and write to media cards, such as CompactFlash (CF), MemoryStick, Secure Digital (SD), and Multi-Media Card (MMC).
Some ports, such as USB or FireWire, are often in use for extended periods of time. While the card reader class of ports is often used momentarily to transfer information to or from the processing system and, when not in use, often remains idle. With many processor-based systems becoming ever smaller and thinner relative to prior counterpart devices, inclusion of a memory card reader port can often limit space for more consistently used ports.